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2025 French Open Finals weekend: Coco Gauff clutches past Aryna Sabalenka and so does Carlos Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner with their own championship-winning comebacks

by Sports Benches

Two unmissable singles finals from men and women’s matches across the weekend that will forever be remembered in Roland Garros history where one of each can only be crowed as champion at Court Phillipe Chatrier.

With the women’s game Saturday, that new champion was not Aryna Sabalenka’s day other than the one and only Coco Gauff. Sure, Sabalenka fired off well but then she complained about the bad weather while struggling to grasp her long game. Unfortunately, there’s nothing she could do about it when expressing extreme frustration didn’t help much before it was too late to salvage this Final.

Again, gutting to hear that disappointment from someone who has yet to have won a grand slam in 2025, having won the Australian and US Open tournaments last year & was also a first-time grand slam champion here (Aus Open) two years ago.

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On the new champion Coco Gauff, she played amazing tennis that kept Sabalenka under pressure – it’s something she needs to come in fully prepared to take on a tough battle like this as an elite tennis player.

She may have lost the opening set tie but what a five-star performance Coco’s turned around with dot points that Sabalenka couldn’t do along the way & in the end, Coco deserves it. Well done.

Then in the men’s Sunday to sign off the annual 15-day program, turns out this was the longest match by far in a while of grand slam Tennis by two of the top stars we have seen of both today & tomorrow – new Roger Federer, Jannik Sinner v new Rafa Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz. 

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People were going for Jannik Sinner who probably learned a lot from his three month doping ban thanks to his first two stage wins. 

However, it wasn’t shut up shop just yet like we saw with the women’s final when Alcaraz finally found a way that is worth the battle, the better comeback and the entertainment ticket price hands down. 

Not only he won a close third set, he also had to go through back-to-back tiebreaks even during the 5th stage drag race where the best of ten will end up 1st – and turns out Carlos Alcaraz Garfia stood tall in that “David v Goliath” battle against Sinner.

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How incredible was that after five and a half hours of play through five long sets.

With that said, if Alcaraz can keep his head down with another grand slam title or two to come later this year, he will surely finally win the Australian Open next year and suddenly we have someone who can be as good or even better as Rafa. 

On Sinner, he played not bad but these were experiences where he’s never been champion before, especially on clay and also on grass too with Wimbledon next up between the end of June to mid July.

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2025 French Open men’s semi-finals: Musetti unable to carry on following a good start with Alcaraz in while Sinner takes down Djokovic in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Yes, Carlos Alcaraz may have stood out as the winner and will be back to defend his men’s singles crown on clay tomorrow night. But at least we saw some amazing displays from Italian Lorenzo Musetti who got away with a good start including a close 2nd half battle. It’s so unfortunate his body wasn’t able to cope from there where Carlos won it so easily before Musetti retired hurt earlier in the 4th set.

Also from this semi finals day at Court Phillipe Chatrier, there was another Italian also in action on the main stage by the recently returned Jannik Sinner from his three-month doping ban, who took on the veteran & gold medalist Novak Djokovic.

Easy to say that Sinner successfully wrapped up the other semi finals match left, right and centre against the experienced master in straight sets. 

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There’s no denying the permanent class swagger off Novak’s natural game in which he got away with some amazing strikes but it looks as though Sinner had the last laugh on areas where Novak struggled to reach and that was that as if the Italian swept all three stage wins explaining himself there in NASCAR terms.

It could’ve been an all-Italian Final if Musetti stayed fit all along and possibly throw out Alcaraz in the process but Sinner is still there & looks like he could come back better if he’s able to beat down the Spaniard & add that Roland Garros triumph to his grand slam trophies list.

Don’t forget Alcaraz still hasn’t yet won an Australian Open title likewise with someone who also dominated on clay in the women’s singles draw up until Thursday’s semi-final from Iga Swiatek.  

If he could win this grand slam along with the rest at Wimbledon and US Open again, Carlos is setting up to finish it all come January 2026 at Melbourne Park.

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And looking at the Aussie performances on show in Paris, only one player went as far as the fourth round in Alexei Popyrin. 

He had a great run as the 25th feed with some good wins including a fiery 3rd set encounter even via straight sets v Nuno Borges from Portugal before he was succumbed with his campaign a few days later by Tommy Paul from the USA.

Nothing much to say other than a shock elimination by Alex De Minaur who came off tired and unable to hold on his good lead against eventual Quarter-Finalist Alexander Bublik. Yes, Bublik was eliminated at some point later by Sinner but still it wasn’t a good look which wasn’t really his fault except he had a lot going on with always playing tennis worldwide.

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2025 French Open women’s semi final: Iga Swiatek’s successive Queen of Clay crown comes to an end by Aryna Sabablenka with Coco Gauff also too good for Lois Boisson

by Sports Benches

We will have a brand new champion going into tomorrow night’s Roland Garros Final as one defending champ who dominated all of this over the last 2-3 years had been knocked out by a little surprise. 

That player who turns out to be Poland’s Iga Swiatek even though she fought hard to hang in there for the most part. 

It’s a bummer her errors and faults were the ones that Iga was struggling to keep the tone of her opponent down.

That doesn’t mean Iga will be forgotten where she’s made this clay court her go-to fortress for winning grand slams and it remains to be seen if she’s able to keep herself focused going into Wimbledon.

Instead, current US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will be the one going through and it will be her first Roland Garros singles final. She always plays a top game from start to finish having got away from Iga’s every turn and move. It wasn’t not an easy one as this goes on but at least Sabalenka had other ideas that Swiatek didn’t have where she won an easy third and final set.

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In the other semi out where one will be up against Sabalenka for tomorrow’s final, it will be a familiar face in USA’s Coco Gauff after she was too good for Frenchwoman Lois Boisson. For Lois, she enjoyed one hell of ride on home soil from an upset opening round win against 24th seed Elise Mertens to Jessica Pegula in the last 16 & rising teen Mirra Andreeva the other day.

That homecoming journey and even a huge leap of faith following a year away on the sidelines due to an ACL knee injury has just come to an end at the Roland Garros when Lois just couldn’t grasp the long game ones to outmuscle Gauff with the higher gears. Since it’s her first grand slam proper campaign though that began on an enormous high, we’ll see if she can continue to keep things up in the other majors – top shelf stuff and she’s only 22.

Back to Gauff, as said, she’s simply too good with superior mental and physical strength on what has been a 10/10 performance as if she’s at there playing chess for like hours likewise on the court.

She will go into tomorrow’s final for the second time since 2022 this time against Sabalenka and not Iga. 

Coco did beat Sabalenka once before back in the 2023 US Open Final following a homecoming triumph but again, it’s a completely different track where both of them have yet to win this grand slam. 

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Other than that, our Australian performance in the women’s singles category at this year’s tournament?

Grateful enough that we had a bit of a boost thanks to adopted Aussie from Russia in Daria Kasatkina, who did so well up till the last 16 including an upset win v 10th seed Paula Badosa beforehand (3R) but then her friend Mirra Andrevva stood in the way, even though they know each other very well from way back when.

But it’s encouraging to see that kind of progress since Ash Barty left despite not having a home grown product from our end. Although Emerson Jones is one the next big things and she also did well in the women’s junior singles there; her next game will be in the semis tonight v Austrian Lilli Tagger – best of luck to her.

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2025 Australian Open men’s singles final: Jannik Sinner still rising with his head up high following his 2nd championship win over Alexander Zverev in straight sets

by Sports Benches

After 15 days of fantastic Australian Open Tennis over the last 2-3 weeks, the first grand slam leg of 2025 has just been wrapped up now with the Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Alexander Zverev (Germany) men’s singles championship clash – and once again Sinner is our back-to-back champion in straight sets over Zverev.

First of all, he had a brilliant run at our backyard including another grand slam Final opportunity he couldn’t turn down when Novak Djokovic was unable to stretch his body with the distance following a competitive first set tiebreak the other day during the 1st semi-final. 

Sure Zverev’s performance tonight wasn’t bad at his absolute best like that good start and restart here & there through each set over the best of three hours. 

He simply lost his cool at times unfortunately when it comes to his long runs coupled with a fierce opponent he’s got right in front of him & looks like Sinner won that top package of the prize right there – which is the overall set lead not once, not even twice despite a competitive tiebreak in the second but three times was enough for Sinner to settle the score.

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And congratulations to 23-year-old Sinner with his 2nd straight Australian Open men’s title as that Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy looks good on him. 

Yes, there were doubts about his condition when he had some illness concerns over the past week but that didn’t distract him still and yet, Sinner continued to let his Tennis rise up to the challenge where he got the benefit of his serves while he didn’t hesitate getting the job done without having to throw his toys in the pram unlike Zverev. That is all we can see from the World No.1 seeded and ranked player who we know will go on to win a whole lot more grand slam championships to come – not just the Aussie & US Open but also other ones too.

That will have to be his next target when the 2nd grand slam arrives at the Roland Garros in Paris, France between late May to early June – something he hasn’t yet won before. And if he can win Wimbledon in July, then he could be the next one to win all four grand slams where Carlos Alcaraz failed & even Zverev with the German’s runner-up finish at the Roland Garros (also to Alcaraz) last year.

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Time will tell from today’s version of Roger Federer in none other than Jannik Sinner.

All in all what a summer of sport we have seen for 2024-25 with the best of both sports – Test Cricket & Australian Open Tennis.

It goes from the Aussies regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy off India over the best of five matches including their series finale victory to a mix of feel good moments on-court like Alex De Minaur finally made his first QF appearance on home soil, new names/underdogs being made there & also resurfaced too like Madison Keys’ breakthrough women’s triumph last night over Aryna Sabalenka, and Sinner unstoppable both physically & mentally with his Australian Open men’s title No.2.

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Bring on more sport throughout 2025 & there’s always more Tennis with the Men’s Davis Cup yearly competition now back early for the Aussies next weekend in the opening round Qualifiers away from home in Stockholm v host match nation Sweden.

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2025 Australian Open women’s singles final: The eye of the tiger in Aryna Sabalenka with her two-year title run now over at the hands of first-time champion Madison Keys

by Sports Benches

Tonight’s 2025 Australian Open women’s singles Final at Rod Laver Arena saw one incredible contest where the last two remaining players standing in this draw had to battle it out the best of all three sets for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy.

This time we got a new winner in 29-year-old Madison Keys from the US just eight years following her loss in 2017 US Open Final to her compatriot Sloane Stephenson her second ever attempt on the big dance while the reigning champion’s long two year stranglehold finally came to an unfortunate end from Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) who was forced to relinquish her Australian Open women’s champion status to first time Keys.

The final score was 3-6 to Keys, 6-2 to Sabalenka and 5-7 to Keys after just over two hours of play.

First of all, you can clearly see the disappointment there post-match by Sabalenka who never gave up all along to try and strike towards a three-peat – we know how close she was getting that job done. But again, her poor start and inconsistent serves gave Keys a really good opportunity to strike back and she’s done that with both hands which sums up Sabalenka’s night as second best. 

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Having made a name for herself on the hard courts, the time is now for Sabalenka to win the other grand slam tournaments such as the Roland Garros and Wimbledon – the ones she hasn’t yet won so far in her grand slam career. 

There’s the Queen of Clay Court she can beat in Iga Swiatek who is currently a four-time winner, so that’s one. Plus, Wimbledon hasn’t had a consistent championship winner for a while, although the last two different champions are from Czech Republic – Sabalenka to cash in on that next moment as well.

And finally going back to the first time winner, gotta say this was Madison Key’s best career performance to date which is tonight’s women’s singles final match v Aryna Sabalenka at Rod Laver Arena. 

Love her brilliant start with the first set win while she lost her way at times when Sabablenka crawled her way back from rock bottom that sets up a 3rd and final set finish shootout. And yet, Keys did not hold back as long as she’s able to reach Championship Point before she’s finally relieved to call herself a grand slam championship winner for the first time.

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What’s next? Make every next game her big game and who knows if Madison Keys can be a 2 x grand slam champion once again?

On home soil would be nice with the next US Open a long while away in late August-early September as Sabalenka is also the reigning champ there. Other than that, winning Roland Garros in Paris wouldn’t be bad and Wimbledon also welcomes first-time winners too, especially in recent years so Keys can join that club herself – no doubt.

14 days done, one night to go with one more match to settle in the men’s singles Final – it’s either Jannik Sinner go back-to-back or Alexander Zverev hoping to join Keys as the next first-time AO champion.

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2025 Australian Open Day 13: Novak Djokovic forced to retire hurt while Jannik Sinner unstoppable v Ben Shelton that sets up a Top 2 seed Men’s Final v Alexander Zverev

by Sports Benches

It’s been a huge men’s semi-final day Friday with one magnificent show to watch just now at night and another that out to be both abruptly heartbreaking earlier in the afternoon but also rewarding too when it comes to that other winner who will now go step one closer for Sunday’s big dance.

This upcoming contest will see the best of the Australian Open Top 2 men’s seeders from this year’s edition as these two players who are still standing will be batting it out for that ultimate prize with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

It’s No.1 seed & defending champion Jannik Sinner from Italy v 2nd seed German & 3 x grand slam runner-up finalist so far in Alexander Zverev.

Yes, it was heartbreaking to see Novak Djokovic calling it a day retired hurt straight after losing the first set via tiebreak. But at the same time, he had to do what’s best for him and therefore, Zverev deserves to take that opportunity instead of Novak, who had to take care with his body when he wasn’t able to last for throughout this whole afternoon. 

Instead, the 1st semi was done immediately in just under 90 minutes. We wish Novak the best of luck with his recovery as let’s hope he is not done playing just yet where his partnership with coach Andy Murray is one of the best things to happen as of late – surely, this won’t go away until Novak feels like he doesn’t want to play anymore at 37-38.

For now, Zverev deserves a crack in the Final hoping to finally win his first grand slam championship at age 27 – it’s about time and there’s no better place to do it where first time winners were made here at Melbourne Park. Jannik Sinner was a good one when he made himself known to the entire world last year from defeating a veteran like Novak to finish off the tournament as a first-time champion.

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Speaking of Jannik, that other other semi-final match at night was more like it who continued to shine left, right and centre whereas Ben Shelton fought back at times like Patrick Mahomes – as if he’s perfectly suited to American Football (NFL) but more as an individual athlete with a trainer closely on his corner than in a team.

At the end of the day though, Sinner always hold out the cards in straight sets with little problem finishing up a piece of craft he’s assembled from scratch. 

And yes, it wasn’t Ben Shelton’s night tonight when he was unable to bounce back from an intense opening set battle that went all the way through to the tiebreak. But he did throw things away however at the same time that led to an easier and more extended lead by the Italian to sign him off as eliminated from the last 4 right there. There’s still more to come from the young 22-year-old American though and if Shelton does play in a Grand Slam Singles’ Final someday, then every one of his biggest games will be his own Super Bowl.

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Now bring on back-to-back defending champion Aryna Sabalenka v another American Madison Keys for the women’s singles Final first up on Saturday night.

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2025 Australian Open Day 12: Aryna Sabalenka unstoppable over Paula Badosa with Madison Keys sensational with the hope of going one better for this Saturday’s Final

by Sports Benches

Wow! What a night of women’s semi-final Tennis at Rod Laver Arena that began with Aryna Sabalenka always 100% on fire over her bestie Paula Badosa from Spain in straight sets that booked her yet another chance to get the job done for Saturday’s main eveny – final score was 6-4, 6-2.

Who will be there to stop her though? Now this time her opponent will be American Madison Keys who just won the other semi later on over Poland’s Iga Swiatek, having gone from a set down to a two-set comeback including an unreal finish during the 10-set tiebreak race towards the checkered flag and safe to say that she has done it with so much tears & joy!

Here’s the 2nd semi result as it goes 5-7, 6-1 and 7-6 with 10-8 tiebreaker.

We thought the worst of Aryna could come when she has lost her cool at times from her previous match in the QF the other day v Anastasia Pavlychenkova. But her class is always permanent who fought like a tiger that proved her worth as elite grand slam champion both here (2 x times) as well as also the US for the first time a few months ago.

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For Badosa, she’s currently on a roll off the back of her good US Open run in the QF last year and now this year by going one better than the last 8 at Melbourne Park, especially on the hard courts. It’s just wasn’t her night though where Sabalenka proved to be too strong as again, she still has unfinished business with the upcoming grand slams to show that she means business in finals this year.

Looking back at that 2nd terrific semi, Iga also had a good run this time around at Melbourne Park which is better than the previous ones in the past apart from the 2022 semi – also defeated by another American in Danielle Collins before Ash Barty managed to steal the show on home turf during that year. It’s just a shame she has lost it following a brilliant start to her shift and even though she was closer than ever at times towards an AO final, Iga just couldn’t hold on a bit longer there sadly.

And for Keys, this will be her 2nd ever grand slam final since the 2017 US Open where she lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens. Yes, it’s been a long time between drinks but she came from a long, long way. Also, the last time she played in an AO semi final was 10 years ago back in 2015 & she too was also defeated by another American in Serena Williams. 

Now it’s up to her how to end Sabalenka’s long-running dominance and what a way it could be if Madison Keys can finish her 2025 AO campaign off in style with her first ever grand slam win by taking home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at the age of 29 – turning 30 soon next month. Sure fans would love to back the underdog over the favourite which is something what sport is all about but we shall find out by 9-10pm Saturday night.

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In the meantime, it’s the men’s turn as four will become two on its own before the weekend’s main event blockbuster where champions will be crowned. Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev will have to battle it out in the afternoon – can Novak overcome the sunny skies and make this his possible 11th AO title opportunity or will it be Zverev’s turn this time? 

Also, the reigning champion Jannik Sinner who defeated Alex De Minaur the other day will take on American Ben Shelton during the evening. Are we about to see the best of past and present if Sinner wins once again or will another American be represented this time in the men’s and Ben Shelton could be their answer to possibly take on Novak or even Zverev himself?

It’s all to play for going into Day 13 of 15 at Rod Laver Arena & Melbourne Park.

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2025 Australian Open Day 11: Alex De Minaur has everything to be proud of as his home campaign now over after the QF with Jannik Sinner off to the last 4 in straight sets

by Sports Benches

After a few goes of making playing a few consecutive Round of 16s before being finally able to play in a home QF, Alex De Minaur’s run here at Rod Laver Arena are now over unfortunately tonight at the hands of defending champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1.

That means the Italian in Sinner will continue his title defense ahead of his next match in the semis this Friday v Ben Shelton from the USA amid illness concerns as of late but he will still want to go all the way with another Finals opportunity up for grabs & the winner of that next match will go on to either take on the winner of that other semi between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

First of all, ‘The Demon’ as we always call it as Alex’s nickname had some brilliant early moments right from the very start.

It’s just a shame he threw things away at times that could’ve mean business to throw the pressure back at Sinner & try to map things out on his own, especially when this opponent here is someone he couldn’t beat over the last few times including the last two Davis Cup Finals yearly tournaments – and yet Sinner got the better execution than him. 

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We also wish his fiancé Katie Boulter (Great Britain) was cheering on by his side when his mother Esther was holding the Aussie flag with pride once again. But as Todd Woodbridge said during commentary, she was unable to attend in-person this time around unlike the last two of his matches, as she has a match to prepare on her own over the next few days or at the start of next week. 

I’m sure we are all disappointed to see him being eliminated even with no Katie on his corner. But again, there’s every good moment we can look back from start to finish for Alex at this year’s Australian Open, and the best part about Alex’s 2025 campaign here is that every round of his matches were all played at the RLA.

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I mean, a full house with full Aussie support alongside his explosive skillsets of grand slam brilliance that we can all be proud of as Tennis/Sports fans! How good!

Not only that, there’s still more to come from Alex throughout the course of 2025 as well. I see the early round Davis Cup Qualifiers are happening next weekend where Australia will fly over to Sweden as their first opponent away from home. 

What else? Oh the other three grand slams where he made the last few QFs too & sure he will look to play his ever first semi-final there either way – you never know what will come if he does win that next match towards a shot in the Final.

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So there you have it, while there’s no Aussies left in either singles draw or even doubles other than the mixed doubles category (an all-Aussie contest btw) – there’s always the two must-match semi-final days across tomorrow night for the women and throughout Friday for the men before all champions will be crowned this weekend.

Here’s the list below:

  • Ayrna Sabalenka v Paula Badosa
  • Madison Keys v Iga Swiatek
  • Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev
  • Ben Shelton v Jannik Sinner
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2025 Australian Open Day 9: Alex De Minaur now a first-time Quarter-Finalist on home soil following his straight sets win over American Alex Michelsen

by Sports Benches

The winner of the Alex final 4th Round match last night goes to our own Alex De Minaur over American Alex Michelsen in straight sets 0-6, 6-7 with 5-7 tiebreak and 3-6 at Rod Laver Arena – the place he’s only been playing there through his whole 2025 Australian Open run so far.

For Michelsen, it’s been great seeing the best of him up until this point having made a name himself at only 20 through upset wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas (1R) & Karen Khachanov (3R). Yes, it wasn’t his day when he lacked a couple of areas to tidy up his game but surely there’s a lot more to come from him soon throughout 2025.

Now bring on reigning champion Jannik Sinner from Italy for Wednesday night’s Quarter-Final no matter what happens with the result, especially when Sinner has always been the better player than him with 2 x grand slam championships on hand. Well, he may be the current and future of men’s world tennis but that doesn’t mean ‘The Demon’ can’t do well or at least be at his best, especially when playing in front of his home supporters.

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This is what we want for Alex to be on the front foot off the back of his tremendous start last night along with the bull of a fighter like we saw during that intense 2nd stage encounter all the way to that tiebreak & he knows what to do to sign things off when the match goes his way. 

Nothing more, nothing less – that’s all.

Our Aussie support needs him and he needs them to cheer him up, especially if his next opponent will be Sinner as miracles tend to happen too amongst other players so far in this tournament.

Over to you Alex now for his first Australian Open QF tomorrow night thanks to his brilliant form so far at the RLA including a string of recent grand slam Quarter-Final appearances outside of Melbourne Park last season.

In the meantime, what a win and what a night it was last night with his mother Esther in attendance who witnessed so much joy of seeing his son finally able to play in a home QF grand slam for the first time as these are things you love to see. Not only that, here’s some more Katie & Alex together in action where Katie was cheering on once again by his side as a spectator.

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2025 Australian Open Day 8: Ayrna Sabalenka too good over Mirra Andreeva & a heartbreaking end for Jack Draper due to injury with Carlos Alcaraz’s win via walkover

by Sports Benches

Day 8 of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park so far began with Ayrna Sabalenka being too good for Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff sensational from the opening set down to a tremendous 2nd & 3rd set fightback over Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, and Carlos Alcaraz through to the Quarter-Final thanks to Jack Draper’s injury issues when he couldn’t continue following the 2nd set. 

With Sabalenka, we always love having a crowd favourite, especially at the RLA alongside her love of dance moves on TikTok unlike 2022 AO women’s runner-up Danielle Collins, who was knocked out in straight sets by her US compatriot Madison Keys. As said, she was unstoppable and unchallenged from start to finish – that’s all. Now her opponent will be 4 x AO and seasoned Quarter-Finalist in Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

For Andreeva, her record here wasn’t bad while she’s slightly better on clay when playing at the Roland Garros (semi-final where she was def. by Jasmine Paolini) including the Paris Olympics (Silver medal with Diana Shnaider for their unofficial Belarusian & Russian country team in the women’s doubles) last year. Yes, she’s only 17 and has a very bright future ahead but just not her day today at the hands of a AO’s back-to-back defending champion.

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Meanwhile, the first of the men’s R16 also began during the day a bit later in the afternoon with Alcaraz and Draper. That first set was top-notch between someone who has won each of the grand slams outside the AO so far and a rising Brit coming off a breakthrough US Open run outside of the Final last year. 

Alcaraz managed to win the first two sets with the second one being too quick. 

But then the match ended right on the spot without seeing the other half distance hoping to see a Jack Draper miracle from behind when the Briton just couldn’t go on due to injury issues. He took some medical time out following the first set before he realised he had to retire hurt after he lost the second by saving it for the best next time. 

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Yeah, heartbreaking to see him go following a brilliant run up here until this point every time Jack sees off through a series of five-set contests & nothing else like a straight or four-sets win – such as Argentine Mariano Navone (1R) + two Aussies in Thanasi Kokkinakis (2R) & Aleksandar Vukic (3R). We wish him all the very best with his recovery as he’s got really good potential to dominate in the other grand slam events later this year.

Carlos Alcaraz’s bid to finally win his first AO continues and that may be a bit of a tall order when it comes to his next opponent. Although he has that young age advantage if 22 x championship winner Novak Djokovic wins over Jiří Lehečka tonight & it looks like Novak has Andy Murray by his side as his coach. 

Interesting to see what both veterans has been up to stop these next gen elite youngsters stealing the torch from him as this ain’t over by the 37-year-old himself.

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For now, Day 8 continues tonight with Alex De Minaur coming back out tomorrow night to hopefully book his first AO Quarter-Final when he takes on 20-year-old US superstar Alex Michelsen, even though that potential QF opponent may likely to be current champ Jannik Sinner.

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